Issuu

March 22 2022 No. 1 Essays

Once Upon A Time in Anarene, Texas Peter Bogdonavich and The Last Picture Show By Matthew

Mysterious Skin and my Vendetta Against Mid Editing By Jacob Menz

Manifest Destiny and Filmmaking By Logan Faust

Shin Godzilla (2016) By TheSmithCure

Taste of Cherry: Each Season Brings a Fruit By deadandconfused

5 Essential Chang-Cheh By Joshua Uy

Conversations

Q&A With The Tastemakers By Jekk

Humor

Movies That Are Pretty Good By Sander

Two Comics By Sander

Art

Gos vs Ghost By Jekk

My Masterpiece Is Complete By Hefty Flopper

Artwork Jekk, Adam, Vic, SeanMW, Hefty Flopper

Once Upon a Time in Anarene, Texas

Peter Bogdonavich and The Last Picture Show By Matthew

What I’ve always appreciated about

the theater-going experience were always those small, fleeting moments. When the mind-numbing adverts and the trailers end and for a small moment the whole theater is dead silent and the room is pitch black. Bated breaths and anticipation is held in the gut of every warm body in those seats as they wait for light to shoot up on the screen. Obviously, this is probably a shared feeling across a majority of the hardcore moviegoer community, even as we find more difficult day by day with the ongoing pandemic and lackluster releases by studios who care only about tentpole franchises and intellectual properties. For those of us that live in or just outside of metropolitan cities, we are fortunate enough to have the independent theaters that cater to the needs of film fans seeking more of the classic, cult, or subversive works the medium has to offer. However, what if you live in one of those towns a hundred miles removed from all directions from any major city? There’s a lone rundown

theater on its last leg and the popcorn machine doesn’t even work. For one Peter Bogdanovich, this was a personal Hell.

The Last Picture Show follows

three teens coming-of-age in a nowhere, conservative Texas town that is slowly decaying, both culturally and economically. In this “one street and a traffic light” town of Anarene, boredom reigns supreme. Everyone in Picture Show comes off as exhausted and lethargic in their place in both the town and their lives. We zero in on a trio that would seem to strive easily in the high school atmosphere, two varsity football stars Sonny (Timothy Bottom) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) and the seemingly perfect girl next door, Jacy (Cybill Shepherd). Despite the surface level youthful smiles they put on for each other, their peers, their elders, and the whole town itself, each character hides 3

a deep insecurity in their chests as they reach the end of adolescence.

No matter what the post-war

America of the 1950s propaganda tries to tell you, the family unit was not stronger, a popular parenting pattern of ignorance and avoidance built up resentment between the parents and their children. Each one of the trio is striving for a feeling of reassurance and acknowledgement they know they will not get at home. The movie opens the day after the local high school football team has lost, both Sonny and Duane are blamed by the town’s elders, constantly being reminded of the shame and disappointment they are to the community. Meanwhile, Jacy’s entire homelife is basically being told she’ll never amount to anything other than a poor man’s wife by her mother. She is then peer pressured into stripping to be ogled at before skinny dipping into a pool with a bunch of strangers. All three are pushed away from Anarene emotionally. Sonny confides in a romantic affair with his gym teacher’s middle aged wife, Duane attempts to win back the approval of Jacy, Jacy is out seeking the admiration of a boy in a neighboring town instead of the resentment of her own.

The young aren’t the only ones

left behind by Anarene, the unfulfilled elders of Ruth (Cloris Leachman), Lois (Ellen Burstyn), and Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson) round out the cast that bring into question that this angst is not generational but cyclical in nature. The town’s cruelty weighs on the shoul4

ders of every citizen that walks among them, stuck in a depression that has clung on like a cancer. Ruth’s face shows clear evidence of years of marital neglect, a permanent frown wrinkles on her lips as she always sounds like she’s choking on the verge of tears. A brittle weakness she couldn’t even begin to hide, yet everyone pretends to not see this struggle. Lois having a very obvious and public affair with a domineering oil driller that everyone in town seems to know about, yet everyone turns a blind eye. Sam the Lion acts as the Anarene’s heart and soul, a rancher who used to own a large portion of land where the town now sits on, reminisces to the boys about a short-lived but passionate affair he had with a woman hestill longed for but left long ago, wondering if she still thinks of him. Feeling as though true love passed by his fingertips. Sam’s monologue feels almost like a eulogy for the town itself as he sighs and stares off into the now permanently changed landscape. A sternfaced yet romantically poetic cowboy, the last of his breed. Sam then dies offscreen, unceremoniously.

I always found it interesting and

slightly ironic Bogdanovich called The Last Picture Show his Ford picture. While it shares the Western vistas and the black and white celluloid that would end up in John Ford’s classic genre films, the film is thematically anti-Ford, anti-Classic Hollywood. A rejection of the celebration of the Good Guys will prevail and ride off into the sunset that major studios wanted pushed during the 1950s. Ultimately, this small Texas town’s innocence isn’t saved or preserved during the movie’s titular final showing of Red River, it’s called into

The Last Picture Show (1971)

question whether such innocence existed in the first place. During the showing we cut back and forth between the screen and Sonny and Duane’s reactions, they almost seem bored and on the verge of zoning out. After the projector darkens and the house lights come back on, the two simply get up and talk about what they’re going to do after. There’s no big emotional revelation or relief when the music swells and the ‘The End’ card fades. Just indifference and the thought of what their responsibilities will be tomorrow. The town will die with or without their sadness, regrets, and nostalgia for it. The final shot panning the empty street with dead fall leaves shooting passed the camera in the breeze until finally holding on the defunct theater feels almost post-apocalyptic. Anarene will die, not fighting to see the next day, but with a whimper in its sleep.

The first shot in Gregg Araki’s heart-

leading up to this scene, but it’s edited horribly. Cutting the music when it breaking 2004 film Mysterious Skin is an cuts back to Neil and Brian leads to this extended long take of cereal falling onto the weird tonal dissonance where despite character of Neil (an eight-year-old boy) the dialogue and performances being as he stares into the camera. It introduces completely serious, it's edited one of the most important elements of the more like a comedy scene. I don’t unfilm immediately to the audience: close-ups derstand why Gregg Araki made this of a character staring deeply into the camchoice. Everything else in the scene era. Looks professional, right? The movie’s is great. The dialogue, cinematogra35mm looks very clean throughout the movphy, performances, it’s all there except ie, and cinematographer Steve Gainer’s lens for the editing. This might seem minor choices lead to a lot of pretty bokeh. Harto some, but it’s the movie’s climactic old Budd and Robin Guthrie’s etherial scene. I don’t know how anyone could soundtrack completely fits the dreamlike consider an issue like this minor. tone that Araki is going for. However, one element of the film is not nearly as profest’s not a perfect movie by any sional as the others and brings the rest of means. Some of the dialogue is a bit the film down: the editing. Gregg Araki is goofy and blunt (Neil’s line “I am so sick a very talented man. Not only did he direct of this stinkin' little buttcrack of brilliant films like Mysterious Skin and Noa town!” particularly stands out in that where, but he also wrote and edited all of regard). There’s some foley that sounds them and shot The Living End and Totally weird, but that stuff is forgivable to me. Fucked Up. I don’t want to imply that he’s What isn’t forgivable is the movie’s fade some sort of talentless hack because he’s transitions. As I said earlier, the editing clearly not. He’s a man I have deep respect ruins the pacing for me, and nowhere is for, a man fearless in his approach to porthat clearer to me than in the fade trantraying queer angst. So, speaking as an sitions. Like any tool, fade transitions occasional editor, I find it fascinating that a can be used well or poorly, and Araki movie like Mysterious Skin was edited on definitely uses them poorly in Mysteearly Final Cut Pro. I assume Araki made rious Skin. I’m firmly of the belief that this choice to streamline his process and fade transitions are very easy to mess avoid budgetary concerns. And, for the up. I avoid them at every chance I can, most part, he’s successful in his editing. so I’m confused why Araki chose to use The audio is mixed well, his foley effects them as much as he does in Mysterious are convincing, there’s a lot to love about Skin. Without fail, they slow the movie this movie on a technical level. So you may down every single time they’re ued. It’s be wondering why I’m about to be so critso frustrating because the movie is so ical of his editing. And, to put it simply, quickly paced and often well edited. I I think it kills the pacing. just can’t understand Araki’s reasoning Take the film’s final scene where Brian for the fade transitions. learns the horrible truth of what happened to him and Neil. The entire movie has been

Mysterious Skin (2004)

Despite its flaws, I’d consider Mysterious Skin a great movie. It oozes style and

personality at every turn. The dialogue, while blunt, is generally very resonant and retains a certain charm that his other films have. Whenever I watch a film of his, I always become immersed in his heightened realities because I can’t think of another writer who writes characters the way Gregg Araki does. He’s one of the most unique voices in contemporary cinema. I aspire to write movies as powerful as this and Totally Fucked Up. So, although I criticize certain elements of this movie, it’s so enjoyable overall that most of my flaws with it are forgivable. What can I say, a goat is a goat no matter how imperfect a movie of there’s may be.

Walker and The Last Movie take

place more than 100 years apart, but their exploration of The United States’ impact on Latin America is strikingly similar and remains extremely relevant even today. The film’s directors, Alex Cox and Dennis Hopper, worked in the same Hollywood circles so it’s no surprise they would have the same ideas on their minds while making these films. Alex Cox was a protege of sorts to Dennis Hopper, even calling himself Dennis’s 4th henchmen who would rewrite scripts for him when called upon. Cox clearly had an admiration for Hopper, though he was surprised to find out that Hopper didn’t have any Harley motorcycles, only a Cadillac. Hopper was also a Republican, something Cox couldn’t be further from. Nonetheless, they both clearly had a fascination with Latin America and their films Walker and The Last Movie were passion projects that nearly ruined both of their careers, a fact that neither seem to regret. The Last Movie tells the story of an unimportant man, Kansas (played by Hopper himself) who seems destined to fail. He has occasional ambitions but deep down he knows he will never be a rich or important man. He is able to find peace of mind for a bit when he stays behind in Peru after a film shoot to live with his prostitute girlfriend he met there. Kansas seems to enjoy the slow pace of life and the disconnect from modern society, but his girlfriend has a taste of the “American” way of living and is eager for more of it, something Kansas can’t exactly afford. This 10

leads him to start looking for a big break and reconnecting with other Americans who draw him back into a life of sex and violence. Meanwhile, the natives have taken over the discarded film sets and are recreating the movies, but without understanding that the violence in the movies is all faked. They start killing each other and the local priest brings Kansas back into this world of filmmaking to try and stop them, turning his temporary easyliving into a waking nightmare.

Hopper seemed to want to explore

the impact Americans have when they implant themselves in foreign countries, something that would’ve been constantly on his mind as The Vietnam War was still going on at the time. The American’s in The Last Movie come to Peru and build film sets for their western film, clearly with no regard of the lasting effect it’ll have on the natives who have probably never seen the technology they bring with them. As soon as the production ends, the Americans leave to go back home, film sets still fully intact and left to rot. This obviously brings to mind Vietnam, but it’s also a similar situation to past American filibusters, William Walker being one of them. Practically every American character in the film is made out to be an awful human, Kansas included. Kansas beats his girlfriend and uses her to advance his own career, his friend is only in Peru to try and find gold and make himself rich, and the American socialite tourists are there to party and use the natives for their own pleasure. In one particularly despicable scene, Kansas has his girlfriend set up a sex show between two prostitues for the rich American’s to watch, hoping that this will help raise his status

with them a bit. As one of the American women sits and laughs while watching, a picture of an extremely malnourished child hangs on the wall behind her. The contempt Hopper has for these types of people is shown here very clearly. He also shows how the Americans bring their violent culture to this previously peaceful society, corrupting it and turning the natives into a violent and unsatisfied group of people.

The Last Movie is a very exper-

imental film and contains a disjointed narrative as well as many ambiguous moments. Many of the scenes never make it clear if they take place in reality or within the film the characters are making, creating a sense of confusion that feels like Hopper is exploiting the viewers just as the American characters exploit the Peruvians. Near the end of the film, Kansas is injured and starts going crazy, leaving it up to the viewer to determine how much of the plot is based in reality. These techniques and ideas Hopper explores make The Last Movie a very thought provoking film that puts a lot of trust in the viewer. In Walker, Alex Cox takes a much more in-your-face and unambiguous approach to get his point across. Walker tells the true story of the American William Walker, a filibuster who took over Nicaragua and declared himself president in the mid 19th century. Cox filmed Walker on location in Nicaragua in the midst of the Nicaraguan Revolution in which The United States funded the Contras in an attempt to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Cox uses

many anachronisms to show that the story of William Walker is just as relevant as it was 100 years prior, and that nothing has really changed when it comes to America’s involvement in foreign affairs.

Walker begins with William Walker

illegally trying to capture parts of Mexico to declare as his own. Things don’t go as well as he’d planned, and he and his men are almost defeated until a sandstorm seemingly sent as an act of God allows them to escape back to America. There he is tried for violating the Neutrality Act of 1974, but is easily acquitted as this is the time of Manifest Destiny and Walker has many supporters. Walker marries and plans to settle down in the United States, even after Cornelius Vanderbilt offers him the job of bringing peace to Nicaragua so that a canal can be built through the country. Unfortunately, Walker’s wife dies of cholera, causing him to have a change of heart and take up the job offer. When he and his men arrive in Nicaragua, Walker immediately makes it clear that he’s a Godly man of order and discipline, harshly punishing his own men when they misbehave. Walker believes a higher calling has sent him here and he is determined to turn the country into a “civilized” land. His method of doing this is of course to kill all the natives who oppose him and to bring about his own rule. The film’s plot is pretty straightforward, with Walker gaining and then slowly losing his control over the country, though the violence continues throughout the film. Walker acts like he’s doing a service to Nicaragua, but Cox makes it clear that he is just a power-hungry and delusional American. 11

Dennis Hopper in The Last Movie (1971)

The moments of anachronisms are Cox’s main way of helping modern audiences relate to the film. Characters use automatic rifles and Zippo lighters, and read modern newspapers, creating a feeling that the film could really take place at any time, even the present. Near the end of the film, Cox even has a helicopter appear as a Deus Ex Machina that saves Walker’s men from the raging war going on. Cox was highly criticized for these moments in the film, but it truly helps it feel like a timeless story. Even today this story rings close to home, being not far off from America’s involvement in Iraq.

Alex Cox made no attempt to hide his disgust with the United States, creating

a scathing film that uses history to comment on present affairs. His goal for the film was to get as much money from American investors as possible, and then to take it to Nicaragua and use it all there to provide money to the natives. This as well as the themes he explored caused him to get permanently blacklisted from Hollywood, and he hasn’t made a high-budget film since. A large majority of the cast were natives, something Hopper also did with The Last Movie. Hopper was also effectively blacklisted from Hollywood after The Last Movie because they felt he was being too critical of filmmaking in general. Both directors clearly cared more about their art than about making money, and the films both remain highly relevant because of it.

The title of Shin Godzilla is a

succinct explanation of what this version of the Kaiju monster will be New (Shin) Godzilla (Gojira, or Gorilla Whale, or perhaps as translated God Incarnate). This is a series that has lasted since 1954 with 36 films and counting still with the moderately successful Legendary Films Godzilla movies. This film written and directed by Evangelion Director Hideki Anno truly provides something new to the character while being very consistent with what it’s title character represents, and how humanity must respond to it, even the flaws of how it responds based on modern bureaucratic structure. Within Shin Godzilla we observe the literal evolution of a mysterious creature from a bizarre fish eyed, fish-like creature to the eventual bipedal beast we know of him. During the span of the film Japan; a country that has reckoned with humanities nuclear ambitions, sees and responds to this within it’s own bureaucratic structure. This may perhaps be one of the driest dialogue wise of the Godzilla movies but it does it with the correct flair to reflect the banality and perhaps predictability of real life governmental structures. Perhaps this film in this way is a direct response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster that happened in the wake of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. A nuclear disaster that leaked nuclear material into the city of Ōkuma, Fukushima; in the ensuing hours of this disaster the situation got progressively worse causing even further evacuations and a common critism 14

of the response showing the government was ultimately unprepared for a “cascasing nuclear disaster”. In this film it’s a the appearance of a unprecedented unidentified lifeform that the government struggles to respond to.

In the most visually awe inspiring

part of the film Godzilla has been trampling through Tokyo late at night when with assistance of US Military have B2 bombers drop MOP (bunker buster) bombs on Godzilla with precision. Godzilla is hit and a tremendous amount of blood drops from Godzilla. Godzilla keels over points his mouth at the ground and a immense amount of smoke aggressively bellow of out of Godzilla’s mouth, followed shortly by a large hellish amount of fire. It would seem that Godzilla has absorbed the force of the bombs that hit him and is forcefully expelling the energy of the bombs. The hellfire forcefully coming out of Godzilla blankets the city and shortly thereafter the fire focuses into a fine purple plasma colored beam as Godzilla cranes his head into the air from the sheer force of the beam, this ends up hitting one of the B2 Bombers and Godzilla seemingly in control for a moment closes his mouth and the same plasma colored beam lasers out of the spines in his back hitting follow up bombs and destroying the remaining B2 bombers Godzilla is protecting himself. The threat neutralized Godzilla opens his mouth back up and the laser focused plasma beam come out of his mouth to destroy everything else like a katana through hot butter, buildings, helicopters, the entire city is a hellscape of fire survivors are those who managed to hide underground.

Godzilla in Shin Godzilla (2016)

During this whole sequence is a beautiful piece of music composed for this film called “Who Will Know” that illustrates Godzilla’s inner anguish. Featuring a lyrical back and forth structure of pain unacknowledged, and the desire to survive in spite of this. “If I die in this world, who will know something of me”, in response “But I must carry on, nothing worse can befall”. This piece of music alone serves to differentiate this Shin Godzilla from others before or after, this is a creature who is in tremendous pain, the hubris of humanities nuclear ambitions (most recently reflected in the Fukushima disaster in real life Japan) has turned this creature into this huge monster who just evolves and survives the only way it thinks it can, only humanity can do at this point is to try and defend itself.

In the final act of the film as Japan learns from all of the continuing information

(including the cirumstances leading to the appearance of Godzilla), they bring in full force the Japan Self Defense Force SDF, who manages to be presented as some of the most calm and collected in the film. Indeed it is their support in addition to some important break throughs that leads to a intense climax in the film. Even with the clear commentary on Governmental response it still presents the humans and military in a favorable light and perhaps most important in the need of self defense from a monster of ones own making. From that perhaps there’s some hope for humanity to rebuild after such a disaster after so much destruction ultimately wrought by humanity on itself through it’s hubris.

The best films about complex

social issues are those that realize that there is no universal solution to the problems they present. Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing doesn’t attempt to educate viewers on how to “end racism.” It’s simply an order to “Wake up!”, as radio DJ Mister Señor Love Daddy implores his audience in the film’s opening scene. Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry tackles an equally controversial topic. Over the course of a day, we watch a wealthy man named Mr. Badii drive the streets of Tehran. He’s dug his own grave, and he’s looking for someone to come the next morning and bury his body. After several rejections, he encounters Mr. Bagheri, who agrees to the job in order to pay for his anemic child’s medical treatment. But Bagheri is also convinced that he can change his companion’s mind and relates a story of how a failed suicide attempt led him to discover the beauty in the world through the taste of a mulberry. His speech is long and impressive, but as the car ride comes to a close, Badii appears unmoved. Taste of Cherry understands that no persuasive anecdote will be good enough for everyone. It’s a character study rooted in realism, down to Kiarostami’s choice to cast unknown actors in the main roles, and for Badii to make a sudden reversal would feel shallow and go against the few things we know about him. Whether a singular audience member finds Bagheri’s monologue convincing or not, they can

understand that it’s simply one man desperately trying to save another. The only thing a single person can do is to show their reason for living and hope that something that they said clicks. “If you look at the four seasons, each season brings fruit. In summer, there’s fruit, in autumn too, winter brings different fruit and spring too. No mother can fill her fridge with such a variety of fruit for her children.”

As spoken by Bagheri, this quote

is perhaps most emblematic of Taste of Cherry’s stance on life. There is no one reason to live that will make everyone happy, but there are so many reasons to live, so many fruits — so many tastes of cherry, that it’s worth it to keep fighting to find your own. Bagheri is at the Natural History Museum, where he works as a taxidermist. Badii is alone in the car. He watches Bagheri walk through the gates and then starts to drive away, but something changes his mind. He turns around and comes back. For a minute, he stands waiting outside the Taxidermy building, where Bagheri is eagerly teaching a group of young students. He meets with Bagheri and tells him “When you come in the morning, bring two small stones and throw them at me. I might just be asleep but still alive!”. Badii asking this proves that he still hasn’t truly made his decision, and it serves as a small glimmer of hope in the leadup to the film’s divisive ending.

Taste of Cherry (1997)

Badii lies in his grave. He hears the sounds of a thunderstorm and watches clouds pass by against the light of the moon. Suddenly, the image pivots from 35 mm to video and we see the hills where Kiarostami filmed Taste of Cherry as chanting soldiers march by. Various documentary-style shots follow, including a particularly enamoring moment where Homayoun Ershadi, the actor who plays Badii, hands Kiarostami a cigarette. For many, this anticlimactic sequence is what makes or breaks the film, with critic Roger Ebert calling it “a tiresome distancing strategy to remind us we are seeing a movie.” But critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, in an essay titled “Fill in the Blanks”, had a different way of looking at it, praising its “spirit of collective euphoria” and “[representation] of life in all its rich complexity” as central to the film’s thematic core.

What’s most important about that final scene is that it’s not a diversion, but

rather a continuation of the story that fits with everything we’ve already seen. What Kiarostami is showing us is his own reason to live: to tell stories, to work with these amazing people, and, hopefully, to create something that can be someone else’s “taste of cherry”. Like with Badii and Bagheri, it’s up to each audience member to decide if he succeeded in convincing them. But regardless, the point is clear: it may not be cherries or filmmaking, but finding the fruit that convinces you to stay on Earth just a little longer is possible, no matter how hard it seems.

From wuxia to gangsters to kung fu, from Jimmy Wang Yu to Ti Lung to Phil-

ip Kwok, Chang Cheh’s career was massive, and arguably the most prolific director Shaw Brothers ever had. Arrow’s recent Shawscope release includes only 5 films from the director’s oeuvre, but this is such a small portrait of an extensive filmography (with 94 credits as director on HKMDB). Listed below are a selection of my favorites from one of the best directors Hong Kong had. THE DUEL (1971) One Armed Swordsman may have been my introduction, but The Duel was when I fell in love with his work. Immediately from the opening cards, hearing the theme to Costa Gavras’ Z being played over them plastered a smile on my face that did not leave at all. It introduced me to the Iron Triangle, collaborations between actors David Chiang and Ti Lung with Chang Cheh, and since then those films have been my favorite of Chang’s. Ti Lung is Tien Ren, who must go into exile after the murder of his master and father figure, but he soon learns he’s at the center of a betrayal plot. David Chiang is Jian Nan or “the Rambler,” and he acts as a sword for hire who ends up killing Tien Ren’s master. Tien Ren then swears to kill Jian Nan after he kills the bosses that betrayed him, but Jian Nan saves him time and time again due to a sense of duty (Tien Ren had saved him in the film’s opening knife fight). It’s this sense of honor that defines The Duel and Chang Cheh’s work as a whole: Tien’s loyalty to his master and Jian’s to Tien. Both of these men are knight-errants in a cruel world where gangster 19

bosses engage in an increasingly confusing maze of betrayals and can’t wait for the chance to tear each other apart. Ultimately, the film ends on an image of honor: David Chiang and Ti Lung severely wounded, falling back down and helping each other get back up over and over in their dying moments. The body is temporary, but honor is eternal. FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS (1984) Ensemble work, lack of recognizable faces, and perseverance in the face of an uncaring world define Chang Cheh’s later venom mob era. There’s no real effort to turn any of the mobs into stars, though Philip Kwok would go on to be the eyepatched assassin in Hard-Boiled. This represents the best of these elements. Excellent martial art and gorgeous costumes offset the more static camera work compared to his earlier, more dynamic fight scenes. There’s little sense of loyalty here, just bodies waiting to be killed and an intense focus on tools for killing. Any time a new gadget appears on screen, a subtitle appears explaining what it is. Focused, thoroughly entertaining, and relentlessly bloody all perfectly describe Five Element Ninjas, Chang Cheh’s last masterpiece. THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972)

One of Chang Cheh’s definitive pictures. Chen Kuan Tai gives a gravitating per-

formance as Ma Young Zhen, a young, hungry wolf looking to become wealthy after moving into Shanghai from the country. Here, he meets Tan Tze, portrayed by David Chiang, and this meeting becomes the catalyst for Ma’s involvement in Shanghai’s gang scene. Ma feels a sense of debt to Tan for encouraging him to gain his own foothold in Shanghai, so when Tan later gets killed by the other gang leaders, Ma sets off to perform his revenge. In his preface to Chang Cheh’s memoir, Sek Kei describes a key element of his films: the danse macabre or dance of death, the mortally wounded hero’s last stand and an element inspired by Peking opera. Few exemplify this better than the finale of Boxer from Shantung which has Chen Kuan Tai caked in the blood of his enemies, with an ax embedded in his abdomen. Once Ma slays the gang leaders that betrayed Tan, one enemy stands. Ma is about to deliver the last strike, but he finds himself overcome with a wicked laughter. The enemy takes his chance and delivers the killing blow on Ma, causing him to twirl in slow motion. A dance to the death. “Never just be satisfied with what you have or you’ll never keep it” is something that Ma tells his men earlier in a teahouse. In the moment, he may have just been talking about turf, but in the grand scheme of things, these tangible qualities of wealth and land were never enough for Ma. Ma’s hunger for more and more glory only leads to the doomed road that many Chang Cheh heroes inevitably go down: the dance of death. 20

Chen Kuan-Tai in The Boxer From Shangtung (1972)

THE NEW ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN (1971) One of the very best Iron Triangle films, New One Armed Swordsman is a reworking of the old Jimmy Wang Yu picture that put Chang Cheh on the map. David Chiang’s Lei Li is far more reckless than Wang Yu’s stoic warrior. In the opening credits alone, Lei Li mercilessly mows down a large group of bodies. However, Lei Li gets put in his place by a master of a martial arts school and must cut off his arm as a result of losing the duel. At the very core of this picture is, as usual, the male bond between David Chiang and Ti Lung, Fung Junjie, a wandering swordsman that saves Lei’s love interest. This is easily the most homoerotic of the Ti/Chiang films; there’s a moment where Lei and Fung just stare into each others eyes whilst the love interest just waits in the background. The New One Armed Swordsman also presents a far crueler world, where Fung dies in a shocking manner and Lei’s ensuing revenge results in a staggering body count. DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN (1974)

The best of the Shaolin Cycle films, a series dedicated to the burning of the

Shaolin Temple and the affairs of its students both before and after. This one doesn’t feel like the other Shaolin films in that it shares more in common with The Boxer From Shantung, a wanderer rolling into town and gaining immense power, a golden watch as a central symbol for wealth, and The Big Boss in dealing with exploited workers. Disciples of Shaolin pairs Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun, and, like Ti/Chiang, complement each other immensely. Fu Sheng’s naive, carefree nature goes hand in hand with Chi Kuan Chun’s more mature, serious demeanor. John Woo once wrote that 21

“Chang Cheh was not just a star maker - he could draw the best from every actor” and this exemplifies that. Fu’s star persona which predicts Jackie Chan takes center stage here and adds to a sense of melancholy, as he never loses sight of his youthfulness in encountering more and more of the real world’s cruelty. He continues to gain more power and rise the ranks of the textile factory, while Chi Kuan Chun, aware of the back stabbing nature of the bosses, simply relents to a life of peace as a worker. His inevitable demise feels far more tragic then, especially considering Fu Sheng’s early death in 84.Ultimately, Chi, who had decided to leave his kung fu days behind, takes up the mantle one more time to avenge Fu Sheng in an epic finale set in black and white.

Ti Lung and David Chiang in The Duel (1971)

SOURCES John Woo, Remembering Chang Cheh—A Preface by John Woo https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/rp-tv-film-veterans-20-1.html Sek Kei, Chang Cheh’s Revolution in Masculine Violence https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/rp-tv-film-veterans-20-2.html 22

Q&A With The Tastemakers By Jekk

J = Jekk M= Matt S= Sludge C = Chip (Charles)

On January 16th, 2022, I had the opportunity to meet with Arrowcord’s most

acclaimed minds. They have assembled a group that goes by the name “Tastemakers”. I had been following them pretty religiously and was very excited upon receiving an email from their secretary stating they would be happy to conduct an interview with me. The 4 of us all met in a secluded spot in Buttfuck, Georgia, Sludge’s hometown. I had an array of questions prepared for them regarding their opinions on film, art, and breakfast. This is the result of our meeting:

J: Hello everybody C: Hello, Jekk! M: Hello S: Hi J: Glad you all could make it today, we’re gonna start with a simple one. Where did the name tastemakers come from? S: Honestly, I don’t think I remember an origin C: As far as I remember, I think it was an inside joke that we did to make ourselves seem nerdier/more pretentious for a laugh. False exclusivity really M: I don’t remember who said it originally but I do remember Chip saying something like “if you we say it again it’s gonna stick” or something to that extent. And we, or probably just me, just kept saying it as a joke and now here we are. Like Charles said, it’s just a false exclusivity that’s funny to all of us. S: What they said. M: I can’t remember if this was pre or post Bound takeover of the server. That might be the starting point if anything. C: I doubled back and it definitely dates back to the criterion server at least. J: Are any of you working on any film/music related projects or ventures currently? C: I am not creatively inclined to be pursuing any artistic projects. it would certainly be cool though! S: My music related projects are noodling on the geetar for maybe 10 minutes and then putting it down for a week....going very well..... M: I’ve been working on a screenplay for what’s been like a year almost. I started it last year in my screenwriting class and just haven’t had a chance to finish it with work, school, and other personal stuff getting in the way. Sludge and Charles have both actually read the first 30 pages of it. And I’m still content on finishing it, soon hopefully… J: Besides the U.S and Canada, is there a specific country you believe excels in the 24

works of cinema it has produced, but remains underrepresented in film communities? S: I don’t think I’ve ventured long enough outside the usual big film countries to really say I’d be confident in championing one I believe to be underrepresented but over the past year I’ve become a larger fan of the very represented italians..... C: I’m not as familiar with many foreign countries’ film representation as I’d like to be but from what I’ve seen from Verhoeven, I think the Dutch community may have more to offer than is particularly discussed. Cult Epics just did a Nouchka van Brakel set of some of her Dutch works and I’ll be picking that up eventually to peruse more of the country’s works. M: Brazil for sure. I’ve only seen about two films from the Cinema Novo scene (both from Glauber Rocha) but I believe that’s where a lot of the meeting branch between stuff like French New Wave, surrealism, and American New Hollywood. Definitely recommend Black God, White Devil and Antonio das Mortes. I’m not super confident in the context of a lot of that stuff so I still have to ask Paige about what they’re talking about sometimes S: Antonio das Mortes was very cool. M: A lot of those countries where their art is a lot more based on religion or cultural events can be a lot to take in but it can be rewarding once you dive in. J: Horror as a genre has been one many people believe is simply for entertainment. Just a fun way to kill time for an hour and a half. What are some horror films you believe contradict this belief as true works of art and why? C: I’d be remiss not to say that “a fun way to kill time for an hour and a half” is exactly why cinema is the best form of art, but to address the question more head on, I’d say you can’t go wrong with the Argento Giallos, Mario Bava’s The Whip and the Body is a painting canvas on screen for its full runtime, and even modern works like Noe’s Climax and Begos’ Bliss are examples of horror as art while respecting the genre enough to not belittle its contemporaries and colleagues. S: I don’t want to speak for Matt but I have talked with him about a letterboxd list he has for True Elevated Horror (https://boxd.it/ccJNq) that would perhaps lineup with this definition with a few favorites from the list being Onibaba, Possession, and a little known picture called Eraserhead. M: I’m not exactly the horror expert of the Tastemakers but if I had to name a few, I would say stuff like Threads, Antichrist, Audition, and Martin. I believe all these movies sort of differ or go off the beaten path of what a ‘horror’ film is without getting that 25

sort of Elevated or Post-horror tag that goes around nowadays. I think the connecting lines for me is that these are something the filmmakers found horrifying, not really the masses. Sure a masked killer with a knife is scary but so is being an outsider (Martin), nuclear devastation (Threads), depression (Antichrist), and being objectified and fetishized by a culture (Audition) J: Arguably the most important question: Waffles, Pancakes, French Toast. rank them. C: Waffles, French Toast, Pancakes. Not kickin any of em outta bed. M: French Toast, Waffles, Pancakes S: Waffles, French Toast, Pancakes C: Good to see all the Tastemakers agree that Waffles are better than Pancakes S: Waffle House represent… M: I think the issues with pancakes is I’ve never been to a restaurant where they’re consistent S: I like the cheesecake pancakes from IHOP M: Waffles are consistent because you just throw the shit in the waffle maker, pancakes a lot of middle men. J: Really adding more depth to the TASTEmakers name it seems. M: Food is actually a big topic for us, believe it or not S: *gives thumbs down* J: What was the catalyst that got you to delve deeper into film? Typically, I find that there is usually a particular film or filmwatching experience that strikes one so deep that they know they need to look deeper into the medium. Was there a specific film or experience that stuck with you? M: If I had to pinpoint a specific film watching that threw me into it all, it had to be a night I just watched Oldboy and Eyes Wide Shut on a whim on Netflix for a double feature. Before that I had liked Tarantino and searched up ‘movies like Pulp Fiction’ on Google countless times. But those films were like the first time I was watching something that was different or out there. It wasn’t stuff that just looked cool to me, a 16 year old at a time. 26

S: Movies have always had an in and out presence in my life with the interest generally growing deeper with most returns to “having a phase” but what really kicked the wagon into it being more of a consistent interest was honestly probably seeing Blade Runner 2049 in theaters, over the previous years I’d gotten into movies more via classic favorites like American Psycho and Drive but BR2049 definitely catapulted me in to keeping up with movies more beyond just looking at movies with actors I liked in them....this is a long winded way to say I only like Sigma Male Cinema. C: It’s funny because I definitely got deep into my movie watching at a much older age than most people in the server. I was pretty casual with it until I turned 25 and then it took off as I read more and more about international film and American independent works as well. I think the thing that really got the gears turning was seeing Inside Llewyn Davis (at one time my favorite movie) was in the Criterion Collection and then one thing led to another and I began to gain interest in other works with the same distinction. I guess becoming interested in physical video collecting is what really helped spur the obsession. J: TV is just as important to cinema as films are, what are some television shows you guys would consider to be cinematic masterpieces and why? C: I’m terrible with watching Television in a meaningful fashion but I’m a huge fan of The Leftovers, Succession, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. I think I’ve liked these more than others for a variety of reasons but mostly because, unlike a lot of modern television, it feels like there’s a method to the use of the serial nature of the medium while also utilizing the extended runtime in a modest fashion. S: I don’t think I’ve watched a ton of more big drama shows so my main big answers are the big obvious ones like Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, Evangelion. The first couple seasons of It’s Always Sunny might as well constitute a cinematic masterpiece. Some of the first couple Dexter seasons are quite good. There’s several Twilight Zone masterpiece episodes out there....Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast. C: I should say that the three shows I listed are ones I’ve completed in full to the most recent episodes. The Wire, Sopranos, and Mad Men are all fantastic in their own right but I’ve yet to finish the series as a whole. S: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the apex of television. Viva La Bam. J: My stepmom went to summer camp with Bam Margera. M: I’m genuinely not a big TV guy, mostly because my attention span is fucked really. But if I had to name some that have impacted me it’s a lot of the earlier Adult Swim 27

like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Moral Orel, Xavier Renegade Angel. I think a lot of that stuff really resonates for me because it’s just a bunch of weird dudes working with themselves really. And it’s honest. Other shows I would say are like Nathan for You, Arrested Development, Cowboy Bebop, Barry, and I Think You Should Leave. I need to catch up on more premiere TV shows like Sopranos, The Wire, The Shield, and all that. Oh and Twin Peaks obviously! C: *rolls eyes* J: Love me some Space Ghost and Moral Orel! M: It’s funny how cheap the space ghost coast to coast budget was. Very inspiring with how much they did with like a couple of hundred dollars an episode. Maybe even less! J: What are your stances on the debate surrounding the prevalence of franchise films and blockbusters in recent years? Do you believe that these films are simply ways for big companies to rank in money or do you believe that there is genuine love and value put into these films that should be recognized and appreciated? S: I’m sure someone is putting genuine love into the films behind the scenes but it’s hard to feel anything but annoyed at such prevalence even if it feels annoying to overstate because it does take up such a large space in the Pop Culture Movie Space... I can enjoy the new spiderman movie but i can also be very annoyed about it… C: I don’t think that being a blockbuster or sequel or part of an existing IP franchise automatically negates the possibility of a movie being good, but I do feel like it tends to hamstring a lot of the necessary creativity and passion that is available to put into it. The more a given movie is tied to its need to be profitable, the more it gets a mandatory sanitation from the studio. There are obvious exceptions but when you’re gambling on 10s of millions of dollars, you want the most possible palatability and that can be a hindrance to the movie more than it does good, obviously. Horror movies tend to be more exempt from this though as they aren’t usually as expensive to make and the audience they’re geared for are already accepting the disgusting wacky choices as a positive to the experience. M: I believe, with some exceptions, that a majority of the major blockbusters that are specifically older IPs are made to keep us locked into nostalgia. The producers running these studios know we’ve been craving childhood fantasies since Star Wars released in 1977, which themselves are repackaged Flash Gordon serials and silver age sci-fi comics. They think people want the same thing they watched when they were 12, and they’re right. The rare times filmmakers have had a genuine love for a franchise to move it first and bring something new, everyone hated it. Obviously Lana Wachowski and Rian Johnson being the most recent examples. We’re stuck in a cycle that most 28

moviegoers are content with living in because they really don’t know that their options are being limited. It’s sad, really, for consumers and creatives. J: Are there any specific pieces of media that don’t include films or music (video games, literature, fine art) that you feel have inspired you or you just generally find to be true works of art? S: Wrestling matches. Nothing is more artful than Omega vs Okada in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 11. C: I am god awful at making time to read literature and would love to change that but I’ve always had a fondness for fine art. I was very briefly an art history major in my minor stint of higher education. Impressionism specifically has always been fascinating to me and I feel as though that love has bled into my cinematic enjoyment as well. Pretty colors shown in a cool way. Now that’s what I call art, baby! M: I’m not a major reader of them anymore, but I believe a lot of comics/graphic novels is the most untapped potential for an artistic medium we have. It’s been pretty much mandated to superheroes and indie splice of life stuff now but there’s so much you can do with still art panels and word. Obvious examples being Watchmen (and most Alan Moore) which is probably my favorite book. How he uses it to mess with non-linear time, there’s like lore in between chapters, and just all this crazy insane storytelling details. It sucks comics are just used as a film adaptation farm now because at its best, film could never do what comics can do (in the same way comics can’t be films of course) but we’ll probably never get to see that I guess for games I’ll name drop the Mass Effect series because I’d say it’s pretty important to me. And I’ll nudge sludge to mention Silent Hill 2 because I just started playing it and loving it so far. S: *clinks glass of sangria with Matt’s glass of apple juice* J: What would you say is your favorite decade for film? Why do you feel this way and what are some prime examples of what you feel are the best of the best for your respective decade? C: I think my favorite decade for movies has to be the 90s. There was this culmination of cultural ambiguity and carefree mentality that allowed for some of the most truly outrageous and magical movies. Columbine and 9/11 kind of ruined that cultural apathy and formed an American identity that became much more puritanical on the surface. So i’ll choose the 90s, several of my very favorite movies come from that decade and I think it was one of the last times when sex in movies was being grappled with at an honest level. 29

M: Mine would by far be the 1970s. Just so many great filmmakers working at the time and coming up together. The Movie Brats and New Hollywood with Scorsese, Altman, Coppola, De Palma, Friedkin? Just so much going on with those guys, the studios had just gotten some younger producers and studio heads and tried to tap into the youth through film schools and they got all these radicals that were convinced they were going to change the system and make it a director’s Hollywood. I mean, they ultimately failed but it was an admirable failure that was inevitable. But we got stuff like Taxi Driver, Chinatown, Apocalypse Now, Halloween, Dog Day Afternoon, Paper Moon, Mikey and Nicky, The Deer Hunter (and I can just keep going on and on) C: Shit did look so much cooler back in the day. S: Very tough question, even though I still have so much to dive into for this decade it’s hard to resist saying the 70s, kicking into the height of New Hollywood, there’s plenty of crazy epics you don’t see anymore like The Deer Hunter, the goat independent film Taxi Driver, two of the many credited to birthing the slasher genre while already peaking the genre... Halloween, Black Christmas, the prime era for giallos. Maybe it’s pretentious to say but just in general in a lot of films for the time things look and feel just a bit more raw and rugged and it’s nice to look at. Even just for how cities looked in the 70s and what not makes shit look cooler. I wish I could be more sophisticated on this.... J: I have to agree that the 70’s is also my favorite decade. S: Yeah fuck you, Chip. M: I can go on and on about this decade. I’m sure I’ve annoyed these guys enough with talking about New Hollywood and all these guys all the time. C: Shut up, Matt. It was then that a full scale brawl between the three Tastemakers ensued. I put in no effort to stop them simply because I thought it was funny but eventually the police were called and our meeting place was tear gassed. All three of them were arrested but only Sludge served a jail sentence because he had broken probation for an unrelated incident three years prior in which he spit in a child’s face for being, “kinda ugly”, according to his testimony. He got out six months later on good behavior and we reconvened at our original meeting spot to close out the Q&A with individual questions for each of them. J: Chip, it’s no secret you’re a fan of eroticism in films, what role do you believe eroticism has taken in terms of the growth of the medium over the last 100 years or so? 30

C: I think eroticism and its many possible depictions (including the ones that aren’t necessarily sexual in an appealing or socially acceptable fashion) are fascinating to me because it attempts to tap in to the basic human instinct of curiosity. Movies couldn’t or wouldn’t always show nudity but it didn’t stop directors from utilizing the femme fatale in the film noir era, or the seductresses of the 60s and 70s even when nudity was allowed more leniently. Obviously the pushback has lessened and movies got more sexualized but still tend to embrace these foundations. People very much like to see hot people doing hot things with as few clothes on as possible and in a way I think it’s endearingly honest to see this happen. People do bad things in real life and we show it in movies, people swear in real life and we show it in movies, and people fuck in real life and there’s no reason not to be forthright and truthful in movies about that too. I will say as I mentioned briefly above that american cinema has taken a step back in making sexiness something that sells big movies. Fatal Attraction was the number one movie in the world in 1987, and adjusted for inflation it grossed approximately $750 million worldwide. That simply can’t happen today in an america that has gone so anti-sex and clutches its pearls for anything erotic in mainstream media. J: Love that passion! Matt, you’ve expressed that you’re a bit of a writer yourself and have shared some of your work with the server on occasion, can you share a bit of your writing process? This may include what you need to do to help you write, a system you use to develop characters, or some writers or works from writers that have inspired you? M: There’s not a lot to my personal writing process, I think to me the most important thing has to be finding a character that is an extension of myself. Obviously I’m not just writing every character as a 1:1 but I think it’s important to be able to identify with what I’m writing. I’ll start with detailed biographies that could also include what kind of music or books they would like. Just to make them feel real. Outside of that I’ll try to make playlists to get into the feel, a majority of these are instrumentals or music that fits the mood of whatever I’m writing. Tone, texture, and atmosphere are big for me. I guess writing influences jump around. I like Cormac McCarthy’s brutal but simple storytelling. Kurt Vonnegut and William Burroughs have such strong writing voices that I think I find it hard not to try and emulate. And obviously film-wise, Paul Schrader is the ultimate inspiration for character studies where the protagonist feels like a real person you’re just watching and following around. J: I love your statement about your characters being in some way extensions of yourself because I feel that some of the best stories and literature come from subconscious urges from the author which can speak deeply about the human condition and this is shown most strongly through characters and their interactions with one another. Authors having characters be extensions of themselves shows the true feelings of the person behind the medium and how they feel about humanity. 31

M: 100%. This is why I don’t really like using the term “character studies” as a micro genre because to me the best art is a character study of the protagonist. You could say something like as big and broad as Star Wars is a character study of a farm kid joining a rebellion under the fist of fascism but also something small like Catcher in the Rye where you’re following a high schooler around for a few days as he complains about girls, parents, and school. J: I truly believe all stories can be character studies but one of the author rather than the characters in the story. M: Exactly. J: Sludge, you’re a big fan of Silent Hill, the 2nd one in particular, what personal connection do you have with either the franchise as a whole or just Silent Hill 2, and what impact do the characters and symbolism of these games have on you to make them such a staple in your life? S: As being a fan of horror stuff all my life, particularly picking up on Resident Evil while mostly observing other names like Silent Hill and Fatal Frame more in passing since uh besides the awful HD collection the main games worth playing weren’t easy to come by and a bit more intimidating since they did seem a bit scarier, I’d sprinkled emulating the first game a couple times over the years but it wasn’t until around 2015 I finally got a copy of Silent Hill 2, played through, and exceeded any thoughts I had prior making for definitely one of the most memorable “gaming experiences” in my life. It excels in nearly everything I love about a horror game, genuinely creepy monster design, the terrifying sound design, dark varied soundtrack, and the rarity of a well done emotionally mature intense story in a game with tragic characters that don’t feel manipulative or just made to have an edgy backstory but are there to flesh out the heart of the game with James. The melancholic mood of Silent Hill is addictive to sit in whether it is walking around the in-game city or just listening to Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack... Resident Evil is goofy fun but Silent Hill gives a deep seated feeling that just leaves me wanting to go back to that special place... J: love your thoughts on the series and I’m glad they were able to bring you the experience that they did. I’m looking forward to my eventual playthrough! These were all the questions I had for the one and only Tastemakers. After our interview, we shook hands and went our separate ways, except for Sludge, who was chained to the table we were sitting at while being monitored by a prison guard due to his criminal record. I was honored to meet and talk to this mysterious group of geniuses about what they truly believed the art of film had to give the world. Until we meet again, Tastemakers! 32

Movies That Are Pretty Good By Sander

i like most movies but some are better than otherse so i will be going through the best ones (the really good ones) in this esay so i think thatthe best movies are the ones that are funny fuhn and a pretty to look at so i think one of my favorite movies is der todesking it is not very funny but it is both of the other ones anyway there are some movies that fit all 3 catagories such as innocent blood another very good movie which is fun funny and prerty to look at so anyway di dyou know that john landis killed 2 children yea pretty weird i didn’t know about that untl i read something that said he did that idk why he did i didn’t really look into his side of the stury bc idk i dont like listening to child killers i guess anyway i still like his movies like you konw seperation of art and the aritst you know another artis ti have to do that with is john carpenter bc he is a known murderer as well haha just kidding what i really was going to say is stan kubrick who is a very good drictor (i like a lot of his movie) but however he also likes to torture woman which i saw in an artickle he tortured shelly in the omvie the shining which you can see bc in the movie she looks sad all the time this is be ause he tortured her on the set (mental) by doing a lot of takes and saying mean things to her a lot i think i haven’t read the article in a long time but anyway i think that he is a good director still even with the tortue stuff i like his movie barry lyndon haa that kinda fits the 3 categoris that i laid out earlier (fun funny and good to look at) bc that movie is very pretty cinematoragy i dont notire that very much though bc i like to pay attention to other thins while watching movies like what the word ppl are saying is but i dont use subtitles usually bc i dont like having ot look at thte words bc that distracts me from the mofie how it looks and stuff kinda a catch 22 i think haha ye a so anyway have u heard about mr landis’s son i think he is a republickan or something its pretty weird i like this picture of him https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/834102771736248330/860061541930631219/image0 .png?width=785&height=702 i think its funny bc he looks like a trollface anyway he wrote some movies i think i dont know which ones bvut they probablyu not good bc i dont like him very mcuh and i dont hear about the movies very much thats just me thouhg i bet a lot of people like his movies just like i like movies directed by david lynch but they robably dont liket hem as much as i liked avid lynch because i LOVE david lynch he made so many good movies (LIKE 8) probably more than stan kubrick if i’m being honest like i like stan but he only made a few movies so i think hthat we should probably jusdt stop talking so much about him bc if it takes u like 10 years to make one movie is it really that impressive that its good like thats kinda obvious it will b e good it took u so long to make it u have ahd so much time LOL for example he took like 10 years to make eyes wids shut and then he died right after making it (sounds like it took a LOT of energy to make a mov ie that good, that doesn’t speak well to his natural talent) good directors usually make things look efortless but if it take u that much energy that is trhe sign of a bad driector however someone hwo made a movie fast is an for example john carpenter who made the movie christine in a very small about of time but that movie is tstill amazing why dont people talk more about christime the movie john carpetnerm ade quickly aafter the book was reelased by steven king its so werid i dont understand it steven king is a popular guy so popular in fact that carpenter (john ) directed like 3 movies that were books by him (christine in the mouth of madness and the dead zone) sdo he probably knows what hes doing chrsitine is actually another one of those movies that fits my 3 criterias so yea thank yu for reading my list of movies i like a lot :)

T WO COMICS BY SANDER THYME

MOVIE THEATER

Jekk

Gos vs Ghost, 2022, digital

Hefty Flopper

My Masterpiece is Complete, 2022, digital Top Left (Sludge), Top Right (Jekk), Bottom Left (Ghostman), Bottom Right (Wynter) 36

Contributors DrawingSauce#3044 SeinfeldVEVO#1610

potatoman80#0697 Jungle Jacob#2912

TheSmithCure#7606 deadandconfused#2411

TheSmithCure PANZERCOP#2190 jekk#5497

good gamer cool guy#5378 SeanMW#4561

SeanMW Vicmg04#1069